Muslim law laid down in the Qur'an and instituted by Muhammad is detailed and specific, covering social and political behaviors as well as religious ones. In its early period, Islams legal codes were drawn entirely from the Qur'an and the Sunna; separation of mosque and state was unknown. Fair treatment of slaves was required, and limits were placed upon divorce, giving women basic protection under law -- in many cases, the first they had known. Non-Muslims are often familiar with two Islamic laws governing food and drink: A Muslim may never eat pork nor drink any alcoholic beverage. Much of Islamic law, however, was intended to be written upon the heart, like attitudes of justice, compassion, and the love of Allah.The rapid spread of Islam brought problems too complex for the original form of Islamic law (Shari`a). In time the Shari`a grew to include not only the revealed law of the Qur'an and the wisdom of the Sunna, but also the community concensus of Islams legal scholars and an accumulating number of qiyas, or analogies. Analogies enabled Islams lawyers to use decisions from legal history to reason their way to decisions in cases where no clear law applied. Some liberal legal scholars went still another step to include personal opinion as possible grounds for decision. Different schools grew up around these various ways of approaching the law during Islams golden age, but it was the orthodox Shari`a that won out in the end....
